Reviews

Leave No Trace by Mindy Mejia

lmurray43's review

5.0

This was my first time reading Mindy Mejia and I love how she wrote this story.

Mia is a young woman who works at Cogdon Psychiatric Facility as a speech therapist. She has been there for about 7 years and in comes Lucas Blackthorn. He is known as the boy who returned from the dead. He went into the woods known as the Boundary Waters with his father ten years ago and no one had seen or heard from them since.

tiarakessell's review

3.0

Without giving anything away, this book should have a suicide trigger warning. Considered giving it less stars for glorifying suicide.

mandm02's review

emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

19-23 year olds. Chemistry was a lot. Lots of action. Very protective mmc. Sad ending but still good. Would read again. A man who was isolated in the woods with his father and a language psychiatrist who is a little mentally ill herself. 

uhhlexiconic's review

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Leave No Trace is an engrossing thriller about the legacies our parents leave on our psyche and navigating the world when you're mentally ill. Both the main characters are let down by their environments, too close to adequately give or receive the help they both need. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Grief, Mental illness, and Police brutality

caitlinlarew's review

2.0

Only reason this got 2 stars instead of 1 is because the story pulled me in enough I felt like I had to find out what happened. So much of this was unrealistic. She’s 23 and somehow has completed grad school and everything? There’s so much wrong with her therapist being her boss, her developing a relationship with her patient etc. I found her insufferable.

veganheathen's review

3.0

This book started out amazing. I couldn't put it down and wanted to keep reading well past my bedtime. About 2/3 of the way through, some weird things started to come up with the characters and their backstory and some of their choices. I still enjoyed reading it, but found myself liking the main characters less as the book went on.

danib11's review

3.0

The first 100 pages are 5*.

catherineamerica's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I thought this was a thriller but it was not. 

_changingtime's review

1.0

To see all of my book-related content, check out my blog @ http://bit.ly/2zzVt0R

I understand that mystery/thrillers require a level of suspension of disbelief; that without a certain skewing of reality, books that fall into this genre wouldn’t have the necessary excitement, the twists and turns, to be able to stand out in a saturated market.
I get that.
But if that skewing requires perpetuating damaging misconceptions about both mental illness and mental health institutions, then I just can’t get on board.
It is not the 1950s anymore and I think mystery/thriller authors need to start realising that the stereotypes that were acceptable (or even held in high regard) back then, will not be stood for now.
Mental health facilities are a necessary part of the fabric of so many people's lives. To someone in pain, at rock-bottom, or just in need of a little help, they can be a lifeline. A light in the darkness leading them back to the sun.
And, I think wider society needs to understand that. They’re not horror-movie settings and, if the mystery-thriller genre keeps portraying them as that, let me be frank - people will continue to be prevented from getting the help they need.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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aseligson20's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75